SCVA Newsletter (on-line version) - October 2009
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Message from the President - Sheri Nelson
“The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment
to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor” - Vince
Lombardi
The selection of quality music literature is the most important decision the
choral director makes. We do not
have a state approved textbook adopted by our districts that is the guide to
our curriculum. Our literature
selection is the core of our curriculum and the selection of literature should
be an area where we have a “commitment to excellence”. As you select your literature do you
ask yourself if your literature:
- Reflects a variety of time
periods and composers
- Includes both sacred and secular
pieces
- Has an appropriately high
difficulty level that will challenge your singers and allow for success
- Fits the ranges of the singers
in the ensemble
- Includes text in a foreign
language(s)
- Is both accompanied and
acappella
- Includes a variety of styles and
tempos
Where do we go to find quality literature? The SCVA Fall In-service, ACDA Regional Workshops, SCVA Suggested Repertoire lists, and colleagues are a few good places to start. I would like to form a committee of directors who would be willing to help SCVA update our Suggested Repertoire Lists. There are numerous pieces on our suggested lists that are permanently out of print and excellent contemporary pieces that should be reviewed and added to our lists. We need committee members who would be willing to review literature recently performed at our festivals and solicit suggestions from the membership for pieces they wish to have added. SCVA has suggested lists for both Junior High and High School so we need directors with experience at either level. Please email me if you can assist or can recommend a colleague whose literature selections you admire. This is an important area that needs input from our entire membership. Please help SCVA continue to be a resource for both new and experienced directors and volunteer to help us update our Suggested Repertoire Lists.
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What Helps the Most? BE A FESTIVAL HOST!!
Jennifer Stanley, VP-High
School Festivals and Maria Fritts, VP-Junior High & Middle School Festivals
“I think the SCVA festivals are some of the most effective that
we attend.”
–
Craig Gruenberg, Granada Hills CHS Choral Director
TOP 10 REASONS TO HOST AN SCVA CHORAL FESTIVAL:
10. It’s easy to register as a festival
host ONLINE at SCVACHORAL.ORG
9. You get free festival registration
for one of your choirs at each festival you host.
8. You get excellent networking
opportunities with other directors and adjudicators.
7. Your students have the familiarity
of performing in their regular venue (home court advantage!)
6. SCVA enrolls choirs in your
festival and gives you contact information for each director.
5. SCVA provides all forms and plaques
needed to run the festival.
4. SCVA schedules certified
adjudicators for your festival.
3. You don’t have to get a bus to go
to festival.
2. You can set the date on your
calendar NOW!
1. You provide an opportunity for many
students to see other choirs and hear quality repertoire.
Submit your festival host registration at SCVACHORAL.ORG - deadline
is November 1, 2009.
If you are interested in hosting an
ELEMENTARY FESTIVAL, or if you have questions about elementary festivals,
please email Maria. Please contact us if you have any questions!
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Vocal Jazz - Christine Tavares, VP, Jazz Choir
Welcome back everybody!
This is my second year as Vocal Jazz VP for SCVA! I currently direct two vocal
jazz groups Two N’ Four and Seven AM at Valencia High School in Valencia. I have a bachelor’s degree in
vocal music with an emphasis on classical and jazz studies from Cal Poly San
Luis Obispo. I also perform as a jazz vocalist in “The Swingin’ Six” and an improvisational vocalist in “Moira
Smiley and Voco.” My
goals as SCVA Vocal Jazz VP are to encourage high school vocal jazz educators
to network, provide resources to directors, help educators wanting to start a
vocal jazz program, and to plan the annual SCVA Vocal Jazz Festival. Please
email me, christinetavares33@gmail.com,
if you’d like to make any suggestions for this year’s vocal jazz festival or
have any questions about vocal jazz in particular.
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Fall In-Service -- Mark Henson, Past President
I hope you’re planning to join
us for a day of sharing and inspiration at this year’s Fall In-Service. We will begin with a choral reading
session featuring titles appropriate for choirs at many different levels. We will also enjoy the Men’s Choirs
from Arroyo High School (Jennifer Stanley, director) and King High School
(Brian Holm, director) which will lead to a clinic and discussion about working
with developing choirs. Also
presented will be sessions regarding efficient grading for choral classes, cultural
awareness in choral music, advocacy tools/strategies, and more.
Members who are wishing to become
certified SCVA adjudicators will receive an introduction to the adjudication
process and will then complete sample adjudications of our special guest groups
– Mesa Robles Middle School under the direction of Debbie Montpas, and the
Upland High School Madrigals under the direction of Roger Estrada. Whether or not you are going through
the certification process, I'm sure you will enjoy the performances of these
fine choirs.
The In-Service officially begins at
9 a.m. but you'll want to arrive early for check-in and coffee-juice-pastry
social time. There will be a lunch
break of about an hour, and we expect to conclude by 4 p.m. The venue for the day will again be
Placentia Presbyterian Church located at 849 N. Bradford Avenue in Placentia.
Come to be inspired and
motivated! Visit the SCVA website
now to register. Final
confirmation, schedule, directions, etc. will be sent to registrants via email. I look forward to seeing you (and your
friends who are not yet members) on October 23!
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News from the CMEA Choral Representative - Christopher Peterson,
CSU Fullerton
I am pleased to announce that
the California Association for Music Education will once again sponsor an honor
choir for middle-level choral musicians: The 2010 CMEA All-State Middle School
Honor Choir. The honor choir will be held in conjunction with CMEA’s
Professional Development Conference (“Music: One Goal, One Voice!”) in
Sacramento, California on March 11–13, 2010. Last year’s honor choir was a great
success, and we believe that these kinds of offerings help to strengthen
middle-level music programs all over the state. We hope you will encourage your
students to submit a recorded audition for the choir this year. More
information regarding student eligibility, audition requirements,and singer
expectations can be found at the CMEA website:
http://www.calmusiced.com/honorgrps.htm
Our Co-chairpersons for the choir
are Marc R. McAlexander and Stephanie Grogg. Immediate questions can be
directed to Mr. McAlexander by email at: marcmcalexander@cusd.com. Be well,
and may this be your best teaching year to date! Chris
Middle School Honor Choir Timeline
October 23, 2009: Postmarked
deadline for audition materials to be sent to the Honor Choir Chairperson, Marc
McAlexander.
November 13, 2009: Notification
via mail and or e-mail.
December 18, 2009: Postmarked
deadline for paperwork and fees to be returned to CMEA.
January 15, 2010: Music
packets, practice CD’s and related materials mailed to singer’s school.
March 11-13, 2010: All-State
Middle School Honor Choir Rehearsals at the Professional Development Conference
in Sacramento.
March 13, 2010: Performance
at the Sacramento Convention Center, 4 pm.
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HONOR CHOIRS NEED YOUR HELP! - Tammi Alderman - VP, High School
Honor Choirs
Approximately 260
students will be descending upon Point Loma University for the High School
Honor Choirs rehearsal on Saturday, October 24th (THANK YOU, DAN JACKSON!). And on November 20th and 21st,
Honor Choirs Weekend, they will once again gather at Santa Monica High School (THANK
YOU JEFFE HULS!) for two days of intense rehearsal which will culminate in
another spectacular SCVA Honor Choirs Concert on Saturday evening. They will bring so many parents,
siblings, friends and classmates with them, that the 1,200 seat concert hall
will be absolutely packed! If you
have never attended an SCVA High School Honor Choirs concert, take advantage of
the opportunity this year. The raucous
atmosphere and phenomenal musicianship displayed by the young singers are not
to be missed!
While working with and managing the
three choirs during rehearsals is great fun, and unbelievably rewarding, it is
also incredibly challenging. With
the singer to teacher ratio anywhere from 50:1 to 100:1, the odds are daunting
that we can manage to remain sane throughout the weekend! Honestly, a great deal of help is
needed. John and I so much
appreciate all of the help teachers gave us with the adjudication process, and
we don’t want to overtax your goodwill.
But to those of you who had students audition for the Honor Choirs (even
if they didn’t make it)…HELP! If it’s only for an hour
or so, we need you. It’s not
glamorous work (and some of it isn’t pretty) but it all needs to get done. Besides, the camaraderie is wonderful.
We especially look forward to
accepting help from directors whose students auditioned successfully for one or
more of the choirs. We realize how
thankful you are and know that you want to show your students how much it means
to you that they are there. We are confident that you will contact one of us and ask how
you can help! Please give us some of your time.
This year’s Honor Choirs
conductors, Dr. Joshua Habermann (University of Miami), Lori Marie Rios
(College of the Canyons), and Harold Clousing (Azusa Pacific University) have
chosen incredible literature for the students. Every singer will be challenged by it but will also experience
the kind of profound music that can change lives. And all three conductors will demand the best the students
can give. They exemplify the old
Somerset Maugham axiom, “It is a funny thing about life: If you refuse to
accept anything but the best, you often get it.” Each will guide and inspire the singers in a wholly unique
way; each is a master teacher; all three are conductors who have “polished
their own lanterns so that others may follow their lights” (Roshi). Don’t miss this chance to come and
observe and learn. And while
you’re at it, please stop by and offer to help John and me out. In fact, email us and make a
reservation to volunteer today!
Tammi Alderman: talderman@falconchoir.org
John Hendricks: jhendricks@buckleyla.org
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Website Update -
Mark Freedkin, SCVA Webmaster
The updated on-line
Membership Application process that allows you to renew your membership without
re-entering all of your contact information is working very well. In the near future, we will add the
ability to update your e-mail address as well. In the meantime, please contact me if you have any trouble
renewing your membership on-line.
The on-line High
School Honor Choir audition application process also ran very smoothly this
year, with over 600 applications received. For the first time ever, none of our outgoing automated
e-mail approval messages were rejected as suspected SPAM.
However, more than
100 applications included an incomplete or incorrect director’s e‑mail
address. We use the director’s e-mail
address to send an automated e-mail message that allows you to approve or
reject your singers’ applications.
As a result, we had to manually correct each of those applications and
then re‑send the approval e-mail messages. This slows down the approval process and makes a bunch of
extra work for me, especially during the final two days before the application
deadline. Please help us improve
the accuracy and efficiency of our on-line application process by ensuring that
your students enter your e-mail address correctly. We would also encourage you to select a single e-mail
address that all of your singers use, rather than using multiple addresses.
On a humorous side
note, please also remind your students that the first letter of proper names
should be capitalized, and that you are yelling WHEN YOU TYPE IN ALL UPPER CASE
LETTERS.
$$ How to Save Money When Using PayPal $$
When using PayPal to pay
the application or participation fees for multiple students, you can minimize
the processing fees by adding the desired item to your Shopping Cart only one
time, and then specify a quantity for that one item. You should not add the same item to your Shopping Cart
multiple times (once for each student), since that will result in a larger
processing fee added to you total transaction.
If you have any comments, questions
or problems with any of the pages on our website, please contact Mark Freedkin
at mfreedkin@yahoo.com
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Vocal Solo Competition - Colleen Kennedy, VP - Vocal Solo
Competition
I cannot stress strongly
enough the value to your students, and to your choirs, of participation in the
SCVA Vocal Solo Competition. It’s so much more than a competition. The process
of preparing and performing a solo for adjudication, in and of itself, provides
singers with a tremendous opportunity for growth as musicians. Add to that
watching and listening to their peers and receiving guidance by leaders in the
field, and you’ve got one powerful experience. The educational masterclass
aspect of the competition is emphasized throughout the process, so that
everyone, novices to veterans, can benefit from participation. Some choral
directors have found the solo competition experience so valuable that they
require members of their ensembles to participate.
Change in Requirements
Just a reminder that last
year, the SCVA Board voted to revise the vocal solo competition policies so
that the choral requirement for the vocal solo competition it is now in line
with the honor choirs. Specifically, applicants for the solo competition
are now required to be active members in their school choral program. As with the honor choirs, exceptions may be
considered for students who are home-schooled or whose schools do not have
choral programs. The Board feels that this revised requirement will maintain
consistency among the various SCVA events, and it will also better serve the
stated goal of the SCVA to promote choral music in the schools.
Preliminary Round Sites and Hosts
Once again, I’m soliciting
for volunteers to host the preliminary rounds in January. This is a perfect
entry-level event for anyone who is interested in becoming more involved in
SCVA. All you need is a room with decent acoustics, a tuned piano, and seating
for maybe 40 - 50 people. The average choir room is just fine. It doesn’t
require much time on your part, outside of competition day. Everything you need
will be sent to you in a packet. The only prep work is filling in the names of
singers on their certificates. On competition day, you simply collect the
paperwork in a postage-paid envelope and drop it in the nearest mailbox. It
really is that easy.
Suggested Repertoire
A list of suggested
repertoire and song books, compiled by Heidi Cissell at Oak Park High School,
is available online in the event details information. Please feel free to email
me with suggestions.
Online Application
The vocal solo competition
application is only available online this year at www.scvachoral.org, either from the front
page or from the Events link.
Application Info
- Directors or sponsors must be current members of SCVA,
having paid their 2009-10 dues, in order for their students to participate.
- Please remind participants to make sure that they are available for all dates
and times before completing the application. The competition is a significant
time commitment.
- Participation is open to students in junior high/middle school (grades 6 – 8)
and high school (grades 9 – 12).
The two levels participate in the master classes together but compete
separately.
- Participants must be active members of a school choral program. (Note: This
requirement has been revised from previous years.)
- Chorus membership must be confirmed by the choral director.
- The non-refundable application fee remains $20.
- Applications must be accompanied by a school check or money order payable to
SCVA, or an SCVA e-Payments receipt. Please, no personal checks or cash.
Performance Info
- More than just a
competition, the preliminary and final rounds are in masterclass format,
lasting approximately 3 to 4 hours, including breaks.
- Each participant will sing one classical piece (art song or aria).
- Selections should be appropriate to the singer’s age and experience level.
- Participants have a total of 8 minutes to perform and work with the
adjudicator.
- Singers must provide their own skilled accompanists for the preliminary and
final rounds.
- Participants are expected to check in before the masterclass starts and
remain until the end to receive their certificates and adjudication forms.
- Depending on the number of finalists, there might be two sessions for the
final round. If so, participants will only need to attend one of the sessions.
- Scholarships will be awarded, and final placement of the high school
finalists will be announced, at the Jr. High/Middle School Honor Choir concert.
Dates to Remember
I’ve done my best to avoid
conflicts with CMEA, CA ACDA, ACDA, college auditions and testing dates. The
final round is later than usual this year in order to avoid these conflicts.
- Saturday, December 5, 2009: Online application and payment deadline
- Saturday, January 16, 2010: Preliminary round
- Saturday, April 10, 2010: Final round
- Final performances/scholarships awarded at the Jr. High/Middle School Honor
Choir concert (date TBA)
Please contact me at
colleenbkennedy AT gmail DOT com with any questions.
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Other Important Information
On-Line SCVA Membership Application (not
required for Honor Choir audition or participation)
On-Line Festival Host Application